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Alexander the Great
Kendall Wells }} "Alexander wanted to be ''the greatest conqueror the world had ever seen."''- Peter van Rossum. "I'm not afraid of an army of lions lead by sheep. I'm afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion." Alexander the Great Alexander The Great, the warrior king, whose brutal tactics carved out one of the largest empires in history; vs. Attila the Hun, the notorious barbarian horseman, who terrorized and ravaged the European Continent. Stats #340 - 323 BC #Height -5' 7" #Weight - 155 lbs #Armor - Bronze Cuirass History Classical Macedonia Much of Alexander's Empire and military experience originated from his father Philip II. Philip introduced many revolutionary military strategies and tactics and studied Thebian tactics that Alexander would later adapt. Since Philip once lived in Thebes, he was able to unite the Greek citystate by conquering it with his knowledge of their military. After defeating Athens and Thebes in battle, Philip II created the league of corinth. Alexander The Great in Greece Alexander III of Macedon (21 July 356 BC- 10 June 323 BC), better known as Alexander the Great was born to Philip II of Macedonia. Tutored by the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle. Alexander grew up in his father's military; leading the Macedonian Calvary. One example of his generalship during this time was the Battle of Chaeronea, where Alexander outflanked the Thebians. Alexander succeeded his father following Philip's assassination (by Philip's own bodyguard Pausanias of Orestis in 336BC), when Alexander was only 21 years old. Alexander immediately faced revolts from the other Greek city-states due to the power vacuum from Philip's death; but Alexander paraded his army across Greece to intimidate the rebealing city-states, including Athens, Sparta and Thebes, into submission. It also helped that many of the Greek city states, after many years of being at war with each other, were had exhausted themselves and so some city-states were militarily and politically frail at this time. Rise of the Macedonian Empire The Persian Empire at this time was facing political infighting, instability and revolts. Alexander declared war on Persia, justifying the invasion by claiming it was for revenge for the Greco-Persian Wars centuries ago. During the next 13 years, Alexander was undefeated in battle and created the largest empire the world had seen up until that time. It incorporated most of Egypt, the former Persian Empire, and reached to the western most parts of India. In an attempt to make a lasting harmony between his Greek and Persian subjects, Alexander held a mass marriage of his senior officers to Persian nobalwomen, known as The Susa Weddings but few of these marriages lasted long. Alexander was well-known for being a brilliant strategist. When confronted with scythed chariots, Alexander, realizing that the vehicles were already cumbersome, devised a method to increase this disadvantage. At the last second, his soldiers formed a U-shape so that the chariots would become trapped by the bodies of the soldiers they killed, leaving the charioteers at the mercy of the Macedonian ﻿Xystons. Another story showcasing Alexander's intellect is that of the Gordian Knot. According to legend, the knot could only be untied by the future ruler of Asia. Hearing of the legend, Alexander traveled to Gordium to attempt it. Unable to find the end of the knot to unbind it, Alexander claimed it did not matter how the knot was undone and cut through it with his sword, producing the required ends. After conquering modern day Pakistan his soldiers refused to continue his conquests: threatening to mutiny at the Hyphasis River (currently named the Beas River). Had his soldiers not revolted at this point, Alexander may have continued expanding his empire eastward. Alexander's Macedonian Empire, which although short lived, was the largest Empire up to that point in history. However Alexander's lust for conquest put him into a deep depression during peacetime. Before he died his successors demanded to know who would rule the Empire after his death. Alexander's last words replied to this question, he said "To the strongest". Division of the Macedonian Empire After his death the Macedonian Empire became engulfed in civil war (The Wars of the Diadochi lasting 322–275 BC) and fragmented into 4 major kingdoms. Two noticeable successor states were the Selucid Empire (effectively the new Persian Empire) and the Egyptian Ptolemaic Kingdom (the last dynasty of Egypt before Cleopatra VII's death in 30 BC, where it would be absorbed into the Roman Empire). The majority of Greece (excluding Athens, Sparta and Byzantium) became Antigonid Macedon. Fall of the Macedonian Empire & Successor States Macedonia eventually shrunk back to command only the Balkans and Greece during the period known as the Hellenistic. The Roman Empire would have several wars with the Macedonians as the Roman Empire expanded eastward. The 280 BC Battle of Asculum introduced a new and effective tactic for the Romans, where they would use their Scutum to deflect Macedonian pikes upwards in order to bypass the spear and assault the now disarmed hoplite. Roman checkerboard formations also allowed legions to move more fluidly than a densely packed Phalangite phalanx (as seen in the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC). Rome would invade Macedonia between 214-148 BC and continue onward to the rest of Greece until 31 BC: adding the territories to its Empire. But the Eastern and Western halves of the Roman Empire split in 330 AD and would later be known as the Byzantine Empire. Between 867 to 1056 the Amorian dynasty was replaced by the Macedonian Empire in response to Michael III (the Drunkard) and his failures to repel Viking raiders from Rus. Modern Republic of Macedonia The modern day Republic of Macedonia gained independence from the Soviet state of Yugoslavia in 1991 during the fall of the Soviet Union. It is one of the poorest nations in Europe due to being landlocked and small: but it has shown economic growth since its independence. Its national flag uses the Sun of Alexander (The Vergina Sun); the coat of arms for Alexander the Great's Argead dynasty (aka: The House of Argos). The Republic of Greece claims that (at least historically) Classical Macedonia and Alexander were always an extension of Greece instead of being a separate and unique kingdom that the Macedonian Republic is claiming: this debate is still discussed even today: to the point where Greece claims that this nation is technically a former Yugoslavian territory instead of actual Macedonia or that the nation is simply the northern part of Macedonia as it does not include Alexander's hometown of Pella; and as a result refers to the nation as The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The debatable claims made by the modern Balkan states have caused some territorial disputes as well. It should be noted that the Republic of Greece has three modern administrative regions called Macedonia (West, Central and East) and these regions also use the Vergina Sun on their flag and claim to be the location of Classical Macedonia. Weapons *Short Range: Kopis = 120 *Mid Range: Xyston = 225 *Long Range: Gastraphetes = 52 *Special: Ballista = 7 *Armor: Bronze cuirass, Chalcidian helmet, bronze shield. *Total Kills = 404 Rashad Evans also demonstrated the ancient Greek martial art Pankration, which Alexander used during his battle with Attila, though it was not listed as one of his official weapons nor did it receive any kills in the simulation. Alexander the Great and his infintrymen also used the Xiphos. Deadlist Warrior Legends Weapons *Short Range: Kopis, Makhaira *Medium Range: Xyston, Sarissa *Long Range: Gastraphetes, Javelin *Armor: Bronze Cuirass, Linothorax *Joke Weapon: Umbrella *Final Strike: Stabs opponent, then twists the sword upwards before pulling it out. Battle The battle opens with two of Alexander the Great's soldiers pushing the Ballista toward a city pillaged by Attila and his men. They slowly turn the crank on the Ballista to pull back the band. Inside the city, Attila the Hun is sitting down and having lunch while his men are examining their weapons. They see a flock of birds suddenly take off and realize that something is up ahead. The Macedonian soldier loads the bolt onto the band and, upon Alexander's command, fires it toward Attila's men. One of Attila's men stands up to see what was going on, and is consequently hit with the bolt. Attila gets up and sees Alexander and his men rushing at them, with Alexander on a horse. Attila jumps onto his horse and takes the bow and arrow handed to him by his fellow warrior. The Hun then takes his own bow and arrow and charges at the oncoming soldiers. One of Alexander's men tries to set up his Gastraphetes bow, but is shot by the Hun's arrow. Attila draws his bow and tries to shoot Alexander, but the arrow bounces off his armor. The Hun also tries to shoot Alexander, but Alexander rides in with the Xyston and thrusts it through the Hun, killing him. Attila and his horse run toward Alexander, and Attila attempts to get his lasso around Alexander's neck. This backfires when Alexander grabs the rope and pulls Attila from his horse. Attila yanks on the rope in retaliation and pulls Alexander off his horse as well. Alexander grabs a shield from one of his fallen comrades and draws his Kopis while Attila grabs another shield and pulls out his Scythian Axe. The two begin fighting, and Alexander knocks the shield out of Attila's hands. He attempts to slice Attila, but misses. Attila swings the axe and lodges it into Alexander's shield, pulling on it and removing it from Alexander's hands. Attila then draws his Sword of Mars and the two warriors begin to clash swords. Attila manages to hit Alexander's arm, but as he goes in for the kill, Alexander drops his sword, flips him over, and knocks him into the wall, causing him to lose the Sword of Mars. The two start fighting with their bare hands, until Alexander throws Attila onto the floor. Attila spots his sword on the floor and scrambles to retreive his sword. Alexander grabs Attila's leg and tries to pull him away from the sword, but Attila kicks Alexander in the face. He tries once again to grab his sword and succeeds. Alexander approaches Attila and is promptly stabbed through the neck. Attila thrusts his sword in the air and yells in victory. NOTE: One of Alexander's men was not seen to be killed during the simulation, but was shown to have died. Trivia *Alexander's titles included; Basileus (King) of Macedon, Hegemon of the Hellenic League, Lord of Asia, Pharaoh of Egypt and Shahanshah (King) of Persia. *Some historians believe that the assassination of Philip II, may have been orchestrated by Alexander the Great and his mother Olympias. Olympus believed that one of Alexander's half brothers and cousin were being groomed for inheriting the kingdom. Philip's own bodyguard, Pausanias of Orestes, stabbed him to death while Philip was entering a theater, after killing Philip Pausanias of Orestes was killed by Alexanders friends and henchmen. The killing of Pausanias of Orestes may have been to keep him from reveling who hired him to kill Philip, as Alexander had the most to gain from his fathers death. Afterwords Olympias honored Pausanias of Orestes by placing a crown on his corpse. Alexander also placed large amounts of gold in his fathers tomb. Afterwords his mother Olympias had Philip's last wife and their child put to death, so that Alexander could become king. *Roman Emperor Caligula, famous for his insanity, was rumored to have graverobbed from Alexander the Great's tomb and wore his bronze breastplate. *Alexander's chestplate had an image of Medusa, as although she was a demon she was also considered a guardian in Greek culture. Many Spartan shields were decorated with a Medusa head: as a reference to the goddess Athena who put the head of Medusa on her shield to kill her enemies with her glare. *Alexander ordered his men to shave so that long beards could not be grabbed during battle. This probably influenced western culture as people of the western world typically shave. *Alexander renamed or founded at least 18 major cities or towns, naming them Alexandria (or a variation of this word). **Alexander named the city Alexandria Bucephalous after his horse Bucephalus; who was rumored to be decedent of the Mares of Diomedes which Hercules famously fought against. Alexander's taming of the horse was considered a legendary feat as the horse was violently hostile to anyone else. *Many historians theorized that Alexander may have been bisexual, which wasn't considered taboo in Greek culture. *Egypt declared Alexander a Pharaoh after he conquered the nation. Egyptians loved Alexander as he did not attempt to influence or change Egyptian culture or religion: a trait rarely found in any other imperialist emperor. *Ancient sorces say that Alexander the Great had blond hair as well as one eye that was blue while the other was brown. *While not entirely confirmed; it is believed that the Kalash people of Pakistan are decedents of Alexander the Great and his army. The Taliban have persecuted and attacked this minority group frequently. * It is believed that Alexander retreated from India through the deserts of the Middle East intentionally to punish his soldiers for their attempted mutiny. Alexander could have easily returned home by a sea route, which would have been faster and safer. * Greeks and Macedonians still to this day debate over if Alexander was Greek or Macedonian. This debate over if Macedonians classify as Greeks existed even before Alexander's birth; Greeks considered the Macedonians to be too far north to be classified as Greeks. ** The ancient Greeks were a very xenophobic society. The ancient Greeks coined the term “barbarian” in reference to foreigners, believing that people were either Greek or barbarian. However in ancient Greece, people also referred to Greeks of different city-states in the same manner, either as an insult or simply because they found their dialect too confusing. On various occasions the Greeks have also been known to use the term "barbarian" for fellow Greeks of the same city state in a pejorative and politically motivated manner. *Famous Hellenistic rulers such as Mithridates VI of Pontus and Cleopatra VII came from families that were descended from some of Alexander the Great's generals (both eventualy became enimies of Rome). **In order to maintain peower, Cleopatra murderd her three siblings (Ptolemy XIII, Ptolemy XIV, and Arsinoe IV). **Hoping to claim Alexander the Great's lost empire for Egypt, Cleopatra provided military aid and funding for Mark Antony's invasion of the Parthian Empire. However Antony's war against the Persian's was a failure, so instead Antony donated large portions of Roman territory to Cleopatra and their children in an act called 'The Donations of Alexandria'. This however was used by Octavian to declare war on Cleopatra which led to the Final War of the Roman Republic. ***During the Final War of the Roman Republic, Cleopatra's army was composed of Ptolemaic soldiers (that were based on the Macedonian soldiers of Alexander the Great), African Ethiopians, Galatian Celts and Roman Roman Legions that were still loyal to Mark Antony. **While most stories say that Cleopatra poisend herself with Asp venom, she probably used hemlock instead. **Like Attila the Hun and Crazy Horse, their is much debate about Cleopatra's apperences. *One example of Alexander the Greats stretegic skills was the Siege of the Sogdian Rock. After conquring Persia, Alexander invaded the mountianes lands of Bactria and Sogdian with tribel warraors that would launch hit-and-run attacks. After defeating most of the tribal warlords, Alexander tried to subdu the last powerful warlord Oxyartes, who had more then a thousand rebals in his mountain stronghold who were skilled in mountain warfare. Oxyartes stockedpiled enough food and supplies to hold out for monthes in case of a siege. Alexander demanded that Oxyartes surrender but the rebal refused saying that Alexander's army could only take the fortress if they had wings. Alexander's commanders gatherd 300 volunteers, including former mountain herdsmen who were used to scaling rugged cliffs and his shield bearers who were always in the first wave over high enemy walls, and had them silently scale the ciffside under darkness. After 3 days, 270 of the climbers survived the ascent and while the rest of Alexander's ground army were advancing up the mountain, the climbers apperd from above the fortress to apply simultaneous pressure, which shocked and demoralized Oxyartes and his rebals into surrenduring without a fight. Alexander then sold Oxyartes's people into slavery and established controle over the region by makeing Oxyartes a govener and marrying his daughter Roxana. *Alexander the Great considered invading Africa, but did not have the time, resources or support to attempt such a campaign before his death. *Many Macedonians and Greeks hated Alexander's imperial expansion as they feared that Alexander was turning into a tyrannical dictator due to his growing power. *One of the many reasons why Alexander's soldiers threatened mutiny at the Hyphasis River was because their clothing was beginning to rot off since they worn it for 8 years. *The reason why Alexander never declared a clear heir to his throne was because he feared that the heir would overthrow him or launch a civil war. *The conquests of Alexander inspired the conquests of Chandragupta Maurya to form the Maurya Empire (322 BCE–187 BCE). *During the Peloponnesian War, Macedonia (under the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta) was allied with the Persian Empire. Phillip II (Alexander's father) overthrew the Peloponnesians by forming the League of Corinth: which was the predecessor of the Macedonian Empire. *Pyrrhus (The Great) of Epirus, infamous for his Pyrrhic Victories against Rome, was Alexander's second cousin. **Hannibal Barca declared Pyrrhus to be the second greatest general in history; the first, Hannibal declared, was Alexander. *The Greco-Bactria Kingdom was a kingdom in modern day Pakistan and Afghanistan with a large Greek population who were deported to the region by the Persian Empire who did not want these Greeks returning to Greece while still being under Persian rule. Alexander the Great temporarily conquered the region, but these kingdoms gained independence after the Macedonian Empire collapsed. This kingdom was known for its Greek culture, wealth, and influence over northern India. https://youtu.be/IQATsepKoLE *Because of Alexander's invasion into Asia, many western scholars incorrectly attributed Alexander and his successors as the builders of temples and empires throughout all of Asia (most noticeably Ankor Wat in Cambodia). This was because India was sometimes a synonym for all of Asia, and so these scholars overestimated the range and impact of Alexander's conquests and empire. *Macedonia was actually a vassal of the Persian Empire between 512-479 BC, as the Persian Empire attempted to expand into the Aegean and Black Seas. *Stock footage from "Ultimate Battles- Alexander the Great" was used in the episode. *Alexander the Great was portrayed by Jason Faunt in the simulation, who already acted out the role of the Macedonian king in a 2006 film about the Greek conqueror. Gallery Alex.jpg Alexander_2.jpg Alexander_3.jpg Alexander_4.jpg Category:Warriors Category:Ancient Warriors Category:Named Warriors Category:Ancient European Warriors Category:Defeated Warriors Category:Season 2 Category:Horse Warriors Category:Political Leaders